Axios

What started nearly two decades ago as a protest of society's dependence on oil has grown into one of Portland's largest cultural events, with nude cyclists taking over city streets en masse.

Why it matters: While the World Naked Bike Ride is quintessentially Portland, we're not the only city that hosts it. Since 2004, cities across the globe have participated as a way to promote cycling as a mode of transportation, as well as body positivity.

Researchers say climate change has likely been a contributing factor to the deadly wildfires in Hawaii.

Why it matters: A summer of blistering, record-breaking heat has also seen wildfires scorching Canada forests, with smoke drifting south and blanketing the skies of cities in the Northeast.

Leaders from the eight nations that share the Amazon rainforest promised in a joint statement this week to work towards "deforestation zero," but they did not commit to a roadmap for achieving it.

Driving the news: The leaders of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela met this week to discuss Amazonian conservation — the first such meeting since 2009.

The ongoing 2023 Atlantic hurricane season may be more active than initially thought, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in an updated hurricane season outlook released Thursday.

Why it matters: There have been four named storms so far this season, but historically, 90% of hurricane season's activity has occurred after Aug. 1.

Big Oil's tame second quarter earnings and related plans were something of a new normal after a wild few years.

Catch up fast: Giants like Exxon and Shell saw lower Q2 profits, as commodity prices eased from the shock of the Ukraine crisis.

President Biden offered an inadvertent window into how far the White House likely will and won't go with climate policy.

Catch up fast: When asked by The Weather Channel in an interview that aired Wednesday if he would declare a "national emergency" on climate, Biden said he'd "already done that."

Severe storms that swept much of the U.S. in the first half of this year resulted in $34 billion in insured losses — the "highest ever" recorded in a six-month period.

The big picture: That's according to a report out Wednesday from Swiss Re Group, which estimated global insured losses from natural catastrophes at $50 billion — the second highest since 2011. "The effects of climate change are evident in increasingly extreme weather events," the report notes.

The Biden administration on Wednesday launched a new federal system for tracking heat-related illness across the country as a prolonged heat wave continues to scorch the South.

Why it matters: Extreme heat, which is becoming more common and severe due to climate change, is typically the most dangerous weather-related hazard, though its exact toll on the country is often not immediately known.

Comments flooding into the Environmental Protection Agency signal how influential interests are maneuvering in the wider lobbying and, eventually, legal fight over regulating carbon dioxide from power plants.

Driving the news: The formal public comment period ended yesterday on draft regulations to stem U.S. emissions from the second-largest source after transportation.